The Seas of Fire
by KV1789
Summary: It is the year 2042. The Abyssal Fleet have risen from the ocean with the intent of exterminating humanity. With our conventional weaponry proven ineffective and dealing little to no damage to these mysterious creatures, our last hope rests on the newly-created "Ship Girls." However, where are these "Abyssals" coming from? Rated T for some...content.
1. The Beginning

2040\. It was the year when everything changed. A few decades after the Third World War, our scientists discovered a new material, a metal called Element 179. It was a one-of-a-kind thing. Resembled diamond, but would kill you due to reasons unknown if touched without hand protection. "Purifying" it would somehow render it safe to touch. It had strange properties like the ability to glow without a source of light, and emitting a very strong electromagnetic wave when ionized to a certain extent. Due to its mysterious ability to glow brightly in the dark, it was marketed as a miracle lamp that didn't need electricity to run. It was also applied in many other uses like the creation of prototype laser weaponry.

However, mysterious creatures rose from the ocean a few years after. Labeled "UAOs" or 'Unidentified Aquatic Organisms', these creatures resembled human females combined with technology similar to what you'd see in H.R. Giger's artworks based on a few reports, reports which still needed to be verified. They were described to be as tall as three-storey buildings or larger. The verified reports stated that some resembled mutated sharks the size of Navy destroyers.

It was the end of an era, and the start of another Golden Age of Technology as some may call it.

Now, it was also the start of a more darker one...

* * *

 **February 10, 2042. San Diego Naval Base, San Diego, California, USA**

Newly-promoted Rear Admiral Oscar Jansen was just assigned to the San Diego Naval Base when he received word that he would be going to the Pearl Harbor Joint Base the following day. The message was sent to him just mere seconds after he stepped foot on the base. No other details were mentioned but it didn't seem to be an ordinary one. It wasn't marked urgent so he just casually filed it in the inbox of his Comms tablet. He had more important stuff to do today, such as to meet up with Admiral Russell Henderson for a meeting regarding the UAOs' attacks in the Pacific. He was also going to meet his new secretary. He was regarded as one of the youngest admirals in the Navy, with him being only 24 years old. His speed in rising through the ranks would mostly be attributed to luck and his skill in tactical warfare, according to most of his colleagues.

The soldiers finished unloading his luggage from the Chevy Tahoe LSSV and started bringing them into the Headquarters. He casually tucked the tablet under his arm and followed them into the building. They were taking the stuff to his temporary office in the meantime before the meeting. As he was walking several other personnel saluted him, the norm since he is an admiral. The soldiers and him entered the room and placed his bags on the floor. He dismissed them afterwards.

The tablet alerted him that the meeting would be starting in less than 15 minutes. He immediately rushed out the door and bumped into someone as he was doing so.

"Oops I'm sorry. I've got a meeting to go to right now," he said.

The person, who happened to be a brunette wearing the Service Khaki. Jansen didn't take note of any more details and left. However, the woman called out to him.

"Admiral! Wait! I'm going with you!" she shouted, running after him. Jansen turned around in surprise.

The woman caught up to him, "Forgive for earlier, sir. I'm your new secretary. Seaman Recruit Penny Cartwright."

Jansen nodded in acknowledgement. "Okay, okay. Let's just go already. We're gonna be late."

Looking at his watch, the time was already 7:52. He quickly picked up the pace to the point where he was literally jogging through the corridor. Penny was doing the same thing as well.

"Sir! Please slow down! We can't run this fast in here!" she said, barely missing a janitor.

Jansen, still running, responded, "The meeting's at 8:00 sharp. Admiral Henderson's really strict when it comes to this stuff."

Henderson was Jansen's superior, mentor and family friend. They met during Jansen's tenure as a lieutenant, but he already knew him since he was his father's friend. He acted like a second father to him, or maybe uncle would be a more appropriate term. He was very strict when it came to duties such as being on time to formal duties or important events such as now.

The Operations Center was not far off but it was still a long distance away, on the other side of the Headquarters building. The time was already 8:09. _'Great,"_ he thought.

The cream-colored halls were mostly empty since most of the employees were in their offices, giving Jansen and Penny the chance to run. They were completely late and apparently they would be receiving a lecture from Henderson about the importance of punctuality. Jansen remembered the countless times he had to go through that, and it wasn't just him who was subjected to that. They finally arrived at the Op Center. Looking at his watch, Jansen saw that the time was already 8:13.

"Shit," he said in disappointment. He turned to check on Penny, she was out of breath.

"Oh God...*pant* I'm really *pant* outta shape..."

Jansen rolled his eyes. "Come on, Cartwright. Let's go inside."

He pushed the doors open. Many of the officers were there already, and Henderson was discussing the current attacks by the UAOs in the Pacific.

"As you can see here we have recent attacks on several coastal cities during the past few weeks." Henderson said, pointing at a hologram of Earth with the mentioned cities marked red. "The first attack was on Tokyo. Then it was Macau, Taipei, Hong Kong, Port Moresby and Jakarta. Sightings were reported near Bangkok, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Colombo, and now here are also sightings coming from India, Africa and the Middle East." he continued, each city and country lighting up as he mentioned their names.

"Due to this, there is a huge chance that the UAOs will move on to Hawaii and Europe. We've already lost contact with Guam and because of this we will be moving most of our forces in the Seventh Fleet to Pearl Harbor to maximize the defense on the West Coast and hopefully intercept any force that tries to enter our territory." Henderson said. During this he caught sight of Jansen and Penny as the entered the room. They stood near some of the radar monitors since the other officers where occupying the space near the hologram table.

"Any questions?" He asked, looking sternly at all of them. Then one of the officers raised his hand.

"Yes Cpt. Remwick?"

"The reports mentioned that the UAOs couldn't be harmed by conventional weaponry. Is that true?" he asked.

"Well, yes but-"

"Sir. Footage recovered from news organizations showed that the UAOs just seemed to have appeared out of nowhere during the attacks. How do we even have a chance to know when they strike?" another officer cut him off.

All the other officers started asking questions of a similar type. Henderson quickly spoke up.

"Alright! Enough! I know you guys have a lot of questions but frankly I don't have the answers to them right now."

All the others stopped talking immediately.

"There's also another thing I need to mention. After arrival at Pearl Harbor we will be undergoing the testing of the new XM-03 Laser Cannon." Henderson said.

"The what?" Everyone in the room asked in surprise.

"Yes. You heard that right. The DoD and DARPA had the laser brought in for testing of its 'special ability' on one of our ships for the UN's program. Strangely, it has some 'ability' that is so classified that we won't learn more about it until we actually test it tomorrow." he continued.

"Anyway. Meeting adjourned. You're all dismissed. We will be leaving at 05:00 tomorrow."

The others left the room. Jansen and Penny were about to when Henderson called their attention.

"Hey Admiral Jansen. You're late." he said with a serious tone.

Jansen froze in horror. 'Here we go again...' he thought, expecting his superior to give him a lecture on the importance of punctuality.

"I'm sorry, sir. I won't let it happen again."

Henderson patted him on the back instead, surprising the Rear Admiral.

"Ehh. That's excusable. You just got here didn't ya? I assume you got to know your secretary right?" Henderson's tone suddenly changed to a friendly one.

They looked at Penny, who was in turn, fixing her uniform.

"Not really. I actually just bumped into her on the way here."

"Oh. Well, I gotta go. I got stuff to sort out with the Chief of Naval Operations. Get as much rest as you can. We'll be leaving at the exact time tomorrow so don't be late again." Henderson left afterwards, leaving the two behind.

"Umm...Admiral?" Penny asked Jansen as they walked out of the room.

"Yes?"

"You seem close to Admiral Henderson. Are you guys friends?"

"Not really. You could say that he's my mentor-slash-uncle."

"Oh. Oka-."

Suddenly, a grumbling sound was heard.

"What was that?" Penny looked around.

"Ehe. That was me. I didn't eat any breakfast before going here. You think you could show me where the mess hall is?"


	2. The Missouri

**The following day...February 11, 2042.**

The M939 trucks were loaded with equipment which was scheduled to be sent to Pearl Harbor. The personnel however would be accommodated in separate planes. The San Diego International Airport was closed down for a few hours in order to use its runway, due to the apparent importance of the transfer.

Jansen, Penny, Henderson and the other officers and personnel boarded the shortly after disembarking from the LSSVs. They boarded the C-146A Wolfhounds, meanwhile the trucks were loaded into the C-17A Globemaster. Henderson was seated in the front. Jansen and Penny were seated in the third row. Jansen pulled out his tablet, and started reviewing the current UAO attacks that had happened so far.

"They don't get hurt by missiles, AP rounds, gas, and even pre-emptive nuclear strikes?! What the actual heck are we fighting?" he said to himself. Jansen was curious to what these things were. Aliens? Sea monsters? Alien sea monsters? The original inhabitants of Earth? The last one probably isn't plausible, but one thing he wondered about was their appearance. The media photos showed that the things looked like black sharks. Black sharks with gun-like protrusions, glowing eyes, metallic skin. This would probably confirm the alien theory. Another thought that crossed his mind was the laser. Henderson mentioned that details about it were classified, even to the higher-ups. A thing he found weird was the so-called "special ability". Why would a laser weapon have a "special ability" and since when did we get a laser in the first place? No one knew. Possibly DARPA had a hand in this.

The trip would take 5 hours at least, so he decided to do what Henderson told him yesterday: get to know Penny. She was his first secretary ever, so apparently it would be appropriate to know her personal information. He was never given her file so he decided to find out the old-fashioned way. It was also gonna be boring not having anything to do anyway. He looked to the right. Penny was sitting on the seat beside him, flipping through a clipboard with documents attached on it. The other people on the plane were moderately noisy but it was still relatively quiet. Jansen tapped her on the shoulder.

"Mm? Admiral?" she asked, looking back at him. He took the opportunity to examine her features. She had brown hair, somewhat long, up to the shoulders. Her eyes were light blue. She was still wearing the Service Khaki from yesterday.

"I don't think we got to know each other properly yesterday. Your name is...uh..."

"Cartwright, sir. Penny Cartwright."

"...oh yeah. Thanks. So...we're you from?"

"I'm actually from the Charleston Naval Base. I was just sent here after a few days."

"Oh. So you're new here as well?"

"Yes, sir. I only arrived here the day before you came."

"Alright. Y'know...this is the first time I had a secretary."

Penny's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? This is my first time being a secretary for a senior officer."

"Huh. What a coincidence."

Suddenly, the pilot spoke.

"Attention all passengers. We will be taking off in 15 minutes. Fasten your seatbelts, we're gonna have a long trip."

* * *

 **Pearl Harbor Naval Station, 5 hours later...**

After landing, all the personnel were escorted to their areas of accommodation. Before doing so,the officers were all reminded by Admiral Henderson to proceed to Ford Island in a hour. Possibly for the laser test. While walking to the LSSV, Jansen noticed a specially-colored Globemaster on the Hickam Field runway. It was all white with "UN" marked on the side and tail. Peacekeeper soldiers with black uniforms and sky blue helmets and armbands surrounded it. It seemed as if they were loading something covered by a large tarpaulin on a trailer with the same markings as the plane.

 _'What are the UN doing here?'_ He thought.

They went to the barracks. Unloading the cargo from their plane, everyone was then ordered to proceed to Ford Island. For some reason, they were told to proceed to the area near the USS Missouri.

"Why are we waiting here near the Missouri, sir?" Penny asked.

Jansen closed the door of the LSSV. "I don't know...possibly the laser test I guess."

Henderson walked up to the both of them.

"Hey, guys. I see you're not late this time, Jansen." He slapped Jansen on the back.

"Ow. Nice to see you too, sir."

Jansen fixed his cap. "Anyway. Why's the laser test gonna be done here?"

"The UN wants to test that laser on the target ship that we provided."

Jansen looked around. There wasn't any other ship in sight aside from the Missouri. It was then that he came to a conclusion.

"Are they testing it on the Missouri?!"

Henderson nodded. "It looks so."

"It's a museum ship! What's the National Park Service's say about this?"

Henderson took a deep breath. "The Department of Defense told 'em to fuck off since it was still Navy property. No one was visiting it anyway so-" Jansen cut him off.

"What do you mean 'no one's visiting it'?"

"You living under a rock? Due to the UAO's attacks in Asia everyone here got paranoid and left for the mainland. Our base is the only inhabited area in Hawaii now."

Jansen just stared in shock.

"I've also been told that the President, the NSA, CIA and DARPA are here as well to witness the test."

"Okayyy...but what's so important about that laser?"

Henderson leaned closer. "The laser's from Germany. The UN's got a special weapons program to develop a weapon to kill the UAOs since trade routes in Asia have been cut off because of the bastards. I can't tell you more 'cause I don't know anything else. All other info is classified."

 _"Wow. That must be one hell of a laser."_ Jansen thought.

More cars arrived. One of them was the Presidential Limousine. Another vehicle was the UN trailer that Jansen saw earlier.

After everyone exited the vehicles, an old man dressed in a lab coat stepped in front of everyone. He was already balding, with white hair and a toothbrush-style mustache. He looked quite old. He was holding a megaphone and then spoke through it.

"Is zis thing on?! Hallo?! Ah. It's on. Good."

The man straightened up and cleared his throat.

"Hallo! Is everyone okay? No illnesses or anything? If not, let me introduce myself. My name is Dr. Hermann Koenigg. I am ze head scientist in charge of ze Element 179 Laser Weapons Program under ze United Nations. Today ve vill ve testing ze XM-03 Laser Cannon on ze ship, Missouri, to test its effects on the battleship."

The laser was unloaded from the trailer. It looked like the LaWS system installed on the USS Ponce but bigger and with a yellow glow coming from inside the thing. It was anchored on the ground and directed towards the Missouri. The other scientists were interacting with the interface controls on the back of the laser's mount.

Koenigg spoke again. "Ze laser is a solid-state laser using a rod of Element 179 as the material as to which is ionized. Because of zis, I need all of you to turn off your gadgets. Ze tech used to create ze laser is experimental EMP-proof technology that vill not shut down upon the discharge of the laser. Ze EMP will only last for a maximum of 5 minutes and will not affect anything around ze base."

Everyone turned off their gadgets. Afterwards some of Koenigg's assistants started handing out safety glasses.

"Ze safety glasses are mandatory since ze laser creates a very strong flash." Koenigg said as he put on glasses of his own. The President then spoke through a megaphone of his own.

"Excuse me, Dr! Do you mind telling us what this laser's special ability is?!" he shouted through the megaphone. Everyone started mumbling afterwards. Koenigg scratched his head.

"Ehhh...you'll need to see for yourself, Mr. President." Koenigg said as he turned towards the other scientists. "Is za thing ready?" he asked. The others nodded and said yes. Koenigg turned around again.

"FIRING IN THREE! TWO! ONE!"

WHIRRRRRRRRRRR...

 **PEWWWWWW!**

The beam shot towards the Missouri. It hit the ship but after another bright flash, nothing happened. Everyone took off their glasses. Jansen wasn't surprised that the laser didn't work. Lasers in real life don't work like the ones in Star Wars. Everyone knew that. But why did nearly everyone in the government go here to see a laser light show?

"The damn thing doesn't even work!" One of the officers shouted. Everyone started mumbling questionably. The President was being spoken to by the people from DARPA. Koenigg and the other scientists, however, seemed to be expecting something. Penny suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

"Excuse me, uh, sir?" She tugged his sleeve. Jansen turned to her.

"What?" He bluntly said.

"Look at the ship." Penny pointed at the Missouri.

They looked at the ship. What they saw was...very unexplainable. The ship seemed to have a golden aura emanating from it. Jansen and Penny's eyes widened in surprise. Jansen turned to Henderson, whose jaw dropped to the floor.

"Jansen..." he trailed off.

"Sir?"

"...what in the name of God is going on here?" he said, still watching the ship.

Everyone was quiet. The ship's glow started becoming brighter. After a couple of seconds, some glowing particles from the ship started floating towards a spot on the water near the dock. It started forming into the shape of a person. It gradually started turning into the shape of a woman while glowing even brighter at the same time. Meanwhile the ship's glow was starting to lessen with the same frequency. The particles started forming into something behind the female figure. Its glow started becoming very bright that even the glasses couldn't block the intensity of it. Everyone had to cover or avert their eyes.

"What was that?" Jansen asked, putting his hands down after covering his eyes. He squinted towards the area where the particles formed. The ship wasn't glowing anymore, but there was some thing else he also noticed. A girl, probably about 18 years old or older in appearance was literally standing on the water. Her eyes were closed, for some reason, but she was wearing the same Service Dress Blue uniform Jansen was wearing. There were a couple of ribbons adorned on her uniform. Aside from that she was wearing what appeared to be three cannons. Two below her arms, attached to a metal support extending from her back. One was on her left shoulder, on her right was what appeared to be an 8-barreled version of the Armored Box Launcher. Her arms were adorned with the Mark 28 Mod 0 guns. Two on each arm. A mini Phalanx CIWS was also installed on metal extensions, beside the cannons. Her footwear resembled high heels mixed with a ship's rudder. She suddenly opened her eyes.

"Uhhnn...wha...huh?! Where am I? No wait this is Pearl-WHAT?! I CAN TALK?! OH MY GOD! I CAN MOVE!" the girl started stretching. Afterwards, she started looking around.

"Man. I haven't moved for ages..." She then noticed the group of people looking at her.

"Huh? What're they lookin' at?"

Koenigg reactivated his megaphone. "Zat woman you see over zere, is ze USS Missouri herself."

Missouri started walking towards them on the water.

"Um, excuse me. What do you guys happen to be looking at?"

* * *

 **Meanwhile...**

"SIR! WE'VE GOT UAOS ON THE HORIZON!"


	3. The Battle of Pearl Harbor (Part 1)

"GYAAAAAHHHH!" Everyone jumped back at the sudden sight of the girl in front of them. They were all paying attention to Koenigg when she suddenly jumped onto the pier beside the ship.

"Holy shit! When did she get here?" An officer mumbled.

"What the heck is she wearing on her back?" another said.

"Damn...she's kinda hot..."

"The fuck's wrong with you, Lt. Miles?!" one responded to the previous guy.

Her blue eyes scanned the people in front of her. They were staring towards her direction looking as if they saw something weird. There wasn't anything behind her, so this piqued her interest. Meanwhile, Jansen took off his cap and scratched his head. Henderson did the same, except he wiped his face with a handkerchief. Penny was rubbing her eyes.

"Let me try to sum this up..." Jansen said. "We flew in a laser from Germany, without any knowledge of its creation and development. Test fired it on a FREAKING MUSEUM SHIP. And now... we have a girl wearing THREE FUCKING CANNONS, A MISSLE LAUNCHER, TWO CIWS...and a Service Dress Blue uniform?" He looked at the both of them, "Am I correct?"

"Whoa, watch your language. Even I don't know what's going on here. Hell, it looks as if even the President himself doesn't understand what's going on." Henderson said, pointing at the President, who had a baffled expression on his face. Even the DARPA, NSA, and CIA officials looked mindfucked. The only person who seemed to know what was going on was Koenigg and his fellow assistants, who all had straight faces. Koenigg took off his glasses and put them on his coat pocket. He approached Missouri.

"Why hallo! Guten morgen!" he said in cheerful tone. Missouri looked at him strangely.

"What? I think I understood that first part." she said.

"Zat's 'good morning' in English. Sorry. I tend to insert German in my sentences. By ze vay, my name's Dr. Hermann Koenigg. You can call me Dr. Koenigg." he said as he held out his hand for a handshake. Missouri shook his hand. "Oh. Okay then! Nice to meet you, Dr. Koenigg! I am the USS Missouri! Battleship number 63. You may call me Missouri, Mighty Mo, or Big Mo. It's up to you sir." She then saluted.

The others were astonished upon listening to what she said. "She said what now?!" an officer shouted. He was quickly shushed by the others.

"Now, Missouri. I'm sure you're confused about vat's going on right now-" Koenigg suddenly got cut off by the ship girl. "Mr. President!" she stood at attention and saluted again. "I didn't know there was a Presidential Visit today! I'm sorry I didn't notice you, sir!"

The President awkwardly stepped forward. "Umm. At...ease, uhh...soldier." The ship girl faced the other officers. "I didn't notice that you guys were officers. Please forgive me." she said as she bowed down her head. The officers were still unable to say anything.

"It's okay, uhhh...Missouri." Henderson said to her. No one was doing anything so he decided to accept her apology for their behalf. She looked back up at him. "Thank you, Admiral Henderson."

Henderson stepped back in surprise. "How do you know my name?" he whispered to himself. Regardless, Missouri heard him. "Of course I know your name, sir!" she said in a cheerful tone. "You're the commander of the Pacific Fleet, after all!" she said with a smile. Afterwards, Koenigg cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Excuse me, everyone! I know zat all of you are zumwat confused by vat's going on right now, so I vill explain..."

* * *

 **Meanwhile...**

The Perimeter Defense Center was in a state of shock. A patrol plane was shot down after reporting that a fleet of more than twelve UAOs were on the way. They also were about to say something before the transmission was cut.

"Michaels. Orlando. Inform Base Command." The commander said.

* * *

 **Back on the island...**

"So you're saying that she's the ship's spirit?"

Everyone thought Koenigg was crazy. Spirit? There must be a more rational explanation for her spontaneously appearing out of nowhere right? Or not.

"I know it is confusing but-" Koenigg was cut off by an air raid siren. Some of the lampposts nearby had speakers attached to them.

"ATTENTION ALL PERSONNEL! PEARL HARBOR IS UNDER ATTACK! I REPEAT PEARL HARBOR IS-" The lamppost exploded. Everyone near it was knocked to the ground. The President was rushed into the limo and so was Koenigg due to his VIP status, despite his insistence to stay. Everyone could see a whole formation of UFOs flying above them, bombing the base. They didn't look like circles, rather they looked knife-like, and they were bombing the rest of Pearl Harbor. The Presidential Limo immediately sped off.

"Aw shit! My leg!" Henderson was on the ground, his leg hit by some debris from the lamppost. Missouri went over to him and helped him up, propping him on her shoulder by moving the two Mark 7 naval guns on her right to the back of her rig.

"I gotcha, Admiral." She said to him.

Henderson ordered everyone to get to the trucks that they used to go to the field near the ship. Some were about to get on when...

 **BOOM!**

The trucks exploded. Killing some of the officers near them. An Abyssal Carrier-Based Plane flew past after it completed its bombing run.

"GODDAMITT! You bastards!" Henderson shouted in frustration. Meanwhile some of the scientists who were left behind were trying to deactivate the laser. Koenigg told them the activation, firing, tuning, and deactivation codes but the ones who were left were the rookies who didn't really remember the codes. To make it even harder, they were being forced to hurry since the security detail was getting impatient.

"Can you nerds hurry up?! We're running outta time here!"

"Wait! We need to put in the deactivation code!"

"Hurry up! Just pull the damned plug so we can get outta here!"

"If we do, the bloody thing'll explode!"

One of the scientists, however, put in the wrong code.

 **PEWWW!**

"The hell did you do?!"

"I think I put in the firing code..."

"Out of the way! Let me do this...yanks..."

They finally managed to deactivate it and load it into the UN trailer. The trailer left afterwards, leaving the Navy personnel behind. No one noticed since the ones who were still okay were bringing the injured into one of the nearby buildings.

"Admiral Jansen. May I borrow your comms tablet? I'm gonna call a MEDEVAC." Penny asked Jansen. He gave his tablet. "Good idea. Here."

"Admiral Henderson? May I dress your wound, sir?" Missouri asked. Henderson just brushed her off.

"It's just a scratch. I'll live." He said. He turned towards the Rear Admiral and his secretary. "Penny. Jansen. When's evac coming?"

"The pilots said ETA five minutes." Jansen replied.

"Good. The sooner the better. Can you access the active radio channels, Penny?" Henderson asked the secretary.

"U-um, yes sir. We got Base Command on one of the lines." She said, turning the tablet over and showing the screen to the Vice Admiral.

Henderson took the tablet. He tapped the icon saying "Base Command Frequency".

"Bravo Charlie-Actual. This is Vice Admiral Russell Henderson. Requesting situation report, over." He said into the built-in microphone.

"Copy, Admiral. We've mobilized the _Arleigh Burke_ -class destroyers but the UAOs managed to take them out before they could do anything. Our subs didn't have it easy too."

"What about our planes?"

"We sent nearly all of them but we've lost many to some UFOs. I guess these are the guys the Orion was about to tell us about, over."

"What's the base status?"

"We're receiving some heavy bombardment on Hickam Field. Six UAOs have managed to breach the harbor. Over."

"Fuck...what's the President's status?"

"He's left the island, sir."

"Copy that. Henderson out." He ended the transmission due to the four of them hearing the sound of helicopters arriving. They all looked up. Five UH-1 Bells with Red Cross markings were coming to pick up the wounded. One of the helicopters was about to land on the field near the ship. However...

 **BOOM!**

The chopper was shot down, much to their horror.

"AW COME ON!" Jansen shouted in frustration. They all looked back to see a Ro-class Elite. It's mouth was open, revealing its 5-inch Twin Cannon. It's red "eye" took notice of the four on the shore in front of it. It proceeded to aim its cannon at them.

"Umm, guys. RUUUN!" Penny shouted. Missouri, however, grabbed Jansen's arm.

"Uhn! Wha? Missouri! What are you-?" She immediately put Henderson's arm on Jansen's shoulders.

"Missouri! What're you doing?!" Henderson questioned. She turned and started walking to the shore. Her cannons were aiming at the Abyssal.

"Take cover, guys! This is gonna be loud!" She said as she took a fighting stance. Henderson and Jansen ducked behind a tree. Penny followed suit.

Missouri whistled at the Abyssal. "Hey! You! Over here!" The Abyssal shifted its attention to her.

"All cannons. Aim at the mouth..." She said to herself. Missouri put her arms forward, her Mark 28 Mod 0 guns taking aim. The Abyssal was wondering what this strange-looking human was doing. It was about to fire when...

"FIIIIREE!"

 **BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!**

All the shells exploded inside the creature. The Abyssal glowed, then exploded into particles. Missouri's naval guns were smoking, but she still stood there, unfazed.

Jansen, Penny and Henderson looked in surprise. She killed a UAO. A UAO. They were previously stated to be nigh-indestructible, but she killed one. With a full broadside no less.

"Missouri! Get over here!" Henderson shouted. Missouri immediately turned around and ran to the tree which they were taking cover behind.

"I'm here, sir!" She responded enthusiastically.

"H-how...did you..."

"Kill the black shark thingy? I just shot it. Why?"

Henderson looked at the two others with him. He then looked back at Missouri.

"This is gonna sound crazy but...can you take out the aliens attacking the base?"

Jansen and Penny looked at him in shock. Maybe the blood loss was getting to him.

"Sir! That's suicide! You're sending a girl who spontaneously appeared out of nowhere to fight aliens from God-knows-where! You're crazy!" Jansen protested.

"She killed that sonuvabitch didn't she?! She's our only hope of saving this place!" Henderson angrily replied.

"He does have a point there, Admiral Jansen." Penny said. Jansen just rolled his eyes. "Ugh. Fine."

"Missouri. Can you?" Henderson asked her. She simply grinned.

"They don't call me the 'Mighty Mo' for nothing Admiral! You can count on me!" She saluted and quickly turned back and ran towards the water. As she stepped on it, her heels transformed to have propeller-like modifications with rudders appear on them. She skated off on the water.

"Missouri! Wait! How are we supposed to direct her?" Jansen asked. Her voice suddenly spoke through the comms tablet.

"I can communicate with you through the radio. Just use the satellite live feeds to point out the enemy positions for me. I'll handle the rest." Missouri said. The tablet's current radio frequency was labeled "Missouri's Frequency".

More Abyssal Fighters started bombing the island. "Sir! Let's go! Let's go!" Penny shouted, pointing at the other evac helicopters. They went off towards them.

* * *

 **?**

 _"THE HUMANS. THEY HAVE FOUND A WAY TO OPPOSE US."_

 _"DO NOT WORRY. WE HAVE A PLAN..."_


	4. The Battle of Pearl Harbor (Part 2)

The helicopter was a few miles away from Pearl Harbor. The medics were tending to Henderson's wound. Meanwhile, Jansen had to take the burden of commanding the spirit of the famous Iowa-class battleship, Missouri, in an effort to take back Pearl Harbor. What was really hard to understand was the existence of the live satellite feed system. He never heard of it before, so he asked his superior about it.

"The live satellite system was created for emergency command uses. Y'know, in case we weren't able to pinpoint enemy positions we could use the satellites in the air to spot them and direct our attacks." Henderson explained.

"Why wasn't I told about this anyway?" Jansen asked him.

"Only the higher commanders are informed about this in case of these kinds of situations. You would be told about this once you reach my rank, but since we're under attack we have full reason to use it."

"How do I use it then?" Jansen handed him the tablet. Henderson proceeded to go to the tablet's settings and selected the authorization confirmation feature. After a while he handed it back. The screen showed a Google Earth-style interface, but you could see what was currently happening at Pearl Harbor on it.

"Here. I set it to Pearl Harbor's coordinates. You can zoom in or out but if you want to move it to see other places, the satellite'll have to recalibrate position in order for that to work. You're probably not gonna need to the last part anyway." Henderson said.

Afterwards, Missouri spoke. "'Admiral Jansen's tablet' this is USS Missouri, battleship 63. Can anyone hear me? Over."

Jansen turned on the mic. "Battleship Missouri this is Rear Admiral Lower Half Oscar Jansen. I read you four by five, over."

"Oh. Sir! Good to hear that you guys made it! How's Admiral Henderson?"

"He's good...for now. I'm gonna be commanding you for him." Jansen zoomed in on Missouri's coordinates. She was just near the Southeast Loch. Somehow, she seemed much larger. Jansen moved the satellite's remote cam to the north. Two Abyssal Ro-classes were at the East Loch.

"We have two UAOs at the East Loch, north of your position." Jansen spoke.

"Copy that, Admiral. Oscar Mike." Missouri moved to the north. The Abyssals were firing at some buildings. Missouri aimed her cannons and fired. They died, one salvo each.

"Okay. Two kills confirmed, sir." Missouri said.

"Nice. Nice." Jansen saw the other Abyssal destroyers move from their positions at the Middle and West Lochs. They were heading for Missouri.

"Heads up, Missouri. We have three aliens heading for you."

"Copy sir. I guess they want a taste of my Mark 7s..." She proceeded to skate towards them...

* * *

 **Pearl Harbor Perimeter Defense Center, Hickam Field**

The center was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of calls requesting evac. Their helicopters were all put on CASEVAC duty, but it still wasn't enough. They completely put all their focus into evacuating Pearl Harbor instead of defending it. However, some calls got the commander's attention.

"Delta Charlie-Actual! This is Lt. Harlan Wilson! You seeing this?!"

"Uhhh...copy Lt. Wilson. This is Actual. What are you talking about?"

"I'm seeing a girl around three stories high with four big fucking naval guns and some kind of missile launcher fighting the alien whatsits!"

The commander reacted with what could be described as a spit take and scratched his head.

"Wilson! We're being eliminated by alien sea creatures and you're just making friggin' jokes!?"

"Sir! Just look at the fucking video feeds goddammit!"

The commander angrily ordered one of the operators to access the base's remaining security video feeds.

"Fucking a-hole..." he grumbled. "...the heck is he talking about?"

A holographic screen showed up. The commander's jaw dropped to the floor. The soldier wasn't kidding. A girl with the exact same description was firing her naval guns at three of the alien creatures. All it took was one salvo from the Mark 7s to kill the black metal sharks.

"Raynard! Is this a joke?! What am I seeing?!" He slammed his fists on the desk nearby. The operator looked at him with an expression of disbelief.

"Sir. You should see for yourself."

The commander accessed the feed showing what was happening outside of the center. The girl with what looked like the stern of the USS Missouri mounted on her back like a backpack with three Mark 7 turrets and an Armored Box Launcher with four Phalanx CIWS on the 'backpack', wearing the Service Dress Blue with a schoolgirl-type skirt that was above the knee with knee-high socks and boots connected to...propeller turbines or something, was skating across the water. She looked as if nothing barely scratched her, and she was heading towards the six aliens bombarding Hickam Field. The commander just stared at the hologram screen.

"Sir? Sir? Hello?" The operator waved his hands in front of the commander's face. He still didn't respond.

* * *

 **Hickam Field...**

"Admiral! We have six down, and six more to go. This is a cakewalk!" Missouri excitedly said. Jansen moved the cam to see Hickam Field. It was dotted with craters. A LOT of craters. The hangars were mostly destroyed as well.

"Don't get too cocky, Missouri. These guys might have a few tricks up their sleeve."

"Roger, sir. Approaching Hickam Field now." Jansen could see through the feed that Missouri was skating past Iroquois Point and nearing the southern runway. He noticed that the Abyssal Carrier-Based Planes were returning somewhere. He didn't pay attention though, since he thought they were going to space or something. All his focus was on Missouri taking out the UAOs at Hickam Field.

Missouri's octa-barreled Armored Box Launcher activated on her command. It aimed upwards.

"Hmmm...I haven't used these babies in a while. Let's see if they still work."

Six missiles activated and armed.

"Tomahawks! Fire on targets!"

The six missiles launched upwards and tagged the six Abyssals. They flew down and before they could react-

 **BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!**

"Sir. We have six kills confirmed! HELL YEAH!" Missouri put her fist in the air. Jansen watched, jaw open, at the sight of six UAOs dying in extremely quick succession. He closed his mouth and turned towards Henderson and Penny.

"ADMIRAL! PENNY! SHE DID IT!" Jansen shouted. Penny and Henderson covered their ears.

"Calm down, boy! What're you talking about?" Henderson asked, with a cast on his leg.

"Missouri has liberated Pearl Harbor!"

"What? Sir! No one's ever managed to do that before..." Penny said, surprised. Henderson put his hand on his chin in a thinking position.

"You know...come to think of it...things like Missouri might be our only hope to fight these alien creatures."

Unbeknownst to them, the Abyssals weren't done yet. Another hoard of Carrier-Based Planes flew towards Pearl Harbor. Missouri's radar started beeping frantically.

"Admiral Jansen! I don't think those aliens wanna give up so easily!" Missouri's Phalanx CIWS extended from the stern and aimed upwards. A pair extended up, while the second pair extended sidewards, behind the cannons.

Jansen looked back onto his tablet and saw a huge swarm of UFOs heading for the base.

"Oh fuck me. Sir. We aren't done yet!" Jansen showed the tablet to the other two. Henderson took it from him. He examined the direction from where the UFOs were coming from.

"Where are these things coming from?" Henderson moved the cam southwest of Pearl Harbor. Then he saw something.

"Admiral Henderson. What the heck is THAT?!" Penny asked pointing at it. It looked like a black...head thingy which was glowing yellow or gold. It seemed to have some tentacles on it.

"Sir? What're you guys looking at?" Jansen moved to the right of Henderson and saw it.

"THE FUCK IS THAT?!"

Henderson spoke to Missouri. "Missouri. This is Admiral Henderson. I believe we've found the source of the UFOs."

"Great! There's too much of these flying, black things for me to take out. Best to strike the source."

Missouri stopped firing her CIWS and reloaded her cannons.

"Where and what is it?"

"It's southwest from the base. It looks like some kind of octopus thing from our satellite view. Over." Jansen replied.

Missouri skated off in the specified direction. The Abyssal Planes tried to bomb her, but the CIWS made sure they didn't.

"Octopus thing? That's weird, but then again, most aliens do look like somethin' with tentacles don't they?" Missouri said as she skated. The CIWS was doing pretty good work shooting down the UFOs. She didn't even need to use the Mark 28 Mod 0 cannons to shoot them down.

She could see something on the horizon. The UFOs were coming from what looked to be an octopus, just as they said. But when she got closer, Missouri realized that there was something under the "octopus".

"Umm...guys? I don't think that's an octopus..." Missouri said as she was rapidly approaching the thing. She was a few knots away when she stopped.

"What the HECK are YOU?!" She exclaimed. She looked at the thing in front of her. It seemed from what she could comprehend that the "octopus" was merely the hat of an alien-looking girl who was just her size. Her face was mostly obscured from Missouri's view, although her mouth could be seen. She had a cape made of some sort of symbiote on her back. Something that could be described as teeth seemed to hold the cape in place on her shoulders. She apparently wasn't wearing anything on her top, not that it mattered. Although her legs were covered with black symbiote forming into some "heels" on her feet. She was holding a cane made from the same material, which was planted firmly in front of her, with both her hands on it. It looked as if she had an ethereal, golden glow around her.

"Missouri! Missouri! What are you talking about?!" Jansen shouted into the tablet's microphone.

"Admiral. This isn't an octopus thingy..." As Missouri said that, the creature moved its head up, revealing her face. It could be safe to say, that Missouri was now looking face-to-face, at a Standard Carrier Wo-class.

On the tablet view, they could see that Missouri was in front of the target. Jansen scratched his head, wondering about what she was saying.

"The heck is she doing?" He said aloud.

Wo smiled slyly. She moved her head up, revealing her glowing eyes. Two Tsu-class Light Cruisers jumped out of the water behind her. Afterwards, four He-class Light Cruisers appeared behind Missouri.

Jansen and Henderson's eyes widened upon seeing six more UAOs appear.

"Missouri! We have six more aliens surrounding you!" They shouted.

Missouri turned back to see the four vaguely, humanoid-looking creatures. Then, they opened fire on her. "Agh!" She shouted. The cannon fire destroyed the radio tower on her rig, severing her contact with her commanders.

Unable to contact them, Missouri gritted her teeth.

 _'These bitches are going down...'_ She thought.

Meanwhile, back in the helicopter, Jansen and Henderson were desperately trying to contact Missouri. Unaware of what happened to her radio. On the tablet, they could see her fighting the aliens, although it was unclear who was winning or not. They feared the worst. Unfortunately, bad luck hit them.

"Oh, COME ON! You can't run out of battery now!" Jansen shook the tablet as the low battery symbol flashed on the screen. The tablet turned off.

"Fuck. The live satellite system must have drained out the battery." Henderson told him.

The helicopter was already nearing the San Diego Naval Base. Henderson told Jansen to keep the device.

"All we can do is hope for the best, son."

Missouri charged at the He-classes. They all fired at her, but her cannons got the better of two of them. One of the remaining two charged at her as well, but she sped past it and fired three shots into its back. The two other Tsu-class joined the fray while Wo-class stayed back. She was contemplating on attacking, but hesitated since it was not her duty. The remaining He-class tried shooting Missouri. Missouri received ten shots to the leg, torso and arm, but it had virtually no effect as she grabbed its arm and threw it at one of the Tsu-class. The other Tsu-class tried firing on her as well only to get a salvo of nine shells on itself. She proceeded to stomp the He and Tsu-class who were knocked down into mush. Because of this, Wo decided to make a break for it. Missouri noticed it leaving.

"HEY! I AIN'T DONE WITH YOU!" Missouri fired a full broadside at it. However, Wo was lucky since only three shots hit her. She fired a smoke screen at Missouri. Missouri waved off the smoke, but when it cleared, Wo was gone.

"Aww...didn't get that thing. Whatever it was." She said. So far, she had a damaged radio tower, and some rips and tears on her uniform. Her hair came undone as well.

"Whew! Those guys were tough. Guess I better head to San Diego now..."


	5. Aftermath

**Pearl Harbor, moments after the attack...**

After the attack had apparently ended, a tug boat operated by the U.S. Merchant Marine was going around the harbor looking for survivors who were in the water. They weren't the only ones though. Other boats were going around the wrecks of the _Arleigh Burke_ -class destroyers. This particular boat, named the "Asclepius", passed the partially burning Hickam Field and went further in towards Ford Island to drop off some survivors.

"Gonzales!" A sailor said to his fellow sailor. "You see that?"

The other man looked in the direction his crewmate was pointing. He noticed that someone was floating, face down, right near the entrance of the Arizona Memorial.

"Hey guys! We got someone near the Memorial! Steer this thing closer to it!" Gonzales shouted. The tug boat passed the USS Missouri, which was somehow untouched by the alien assault, and neared the memorial.

They pulled the person onto the boat. It was a girl, apparently. She had on an Undress Blue Service Uniform from World War 2, which they found quite odd. Her red hair was short, reaching only her upper back. Her condition was stable, but she was unconscious. She didn't look older than 21.

"Hey hey hey! Where'd she come from?" a sailor asked. They were wondering where she got her uniform, since there wasn't even any reenactments going on before the attack started.

"I dunno. She's breathing isn't she?" another asked, putting his ear closer to her mouth and nose to verify. "Yeah. She's okay."

They laid her down in the tug boat, beside the bridge. They took some medical supplies from it afterwards to treat the crewmen from the sunken warships, who were laid down on the rear deck and front deck. They had some minor injuries, luckily. Although some were burned due to the explosions of the destroyers.

After treating them, some of the men sat down on the winch on the back, one of which was Gonzales. One guy decided to ask about the girl they found.

"Yo Gonzo. Where'dya find her again?"

"You mean her?" he pointed at the girl. "Near the Arizona Memorial. Why you ask, Shaun?"

Shaun shrugged. "Don'tcha find it weird that she's wearing a really outdated uniform? What's more weirder is that it's...in very good condition."

"First. Do NOT call me 'Gonzo'. Second. Yeah. It is weird. You don't see anyone use these unless they're mannequins at a museum." Gonzales replied.

There were four men sitting on the winch. They all looked at her. Shaun was right. Her uniform looked brand new, as if it just came straight out of its time period, which would be a century ago.

"I gotta say though. She got a nice rack." another sailor said.

"Carlos! You bastard!" Shaun said, laughingly. "We just got blown up by alien motherfuckers and now you're complimenting some unconscious girl's titties? Get your priorities in order!"

The sailor named Carlos laughed as well. "What? Just look at her! She's kinda hot. And they're kinda big..."

"Fuck you, man! Hahahahaha!" Gonzales said, slapping his knee. "You do have a point though. You don't see a girl like that every day."

"You do know that there's a possibility that she can hear you, right guys?" the fourth guy, Tony, said.

"Whatever, Ton-Ton." Carlos replied.

"My name's not Ton-Ton!"

"Relax, Tony. Carlos here just loves giving people nicknames." Shaun said to the man. "You'll get used to it."

"I ain't used to it..." Gonzales mumbled.

"Screw you, Gonzo. I like the nickname he gave you, nigga. At least we don't call you 'Gonzalo'!"

Just as Gonzales was about to punch his black colleague, the girl started coughing.

"Ey guys! She's wakin' up!" Carlos said as they got off the winch and went over to her.

The girl tried to stand up. She collapsed, but Gonzales caught her and laid her down again.

"Miss? Are you ok? Don't force yourself up." Tony said to her. She looked so disoriented. She was apparently squinting, trying to see clearly. Her eyes were a little teary, and her limbs were somewhat limp.

"Ughhhh..." she mumbled.

"Okay umm...w-where are ya hurt?" Carlos asked her.

The girl, struggling to talk, answered. "...s-stupid...J-Japanese..."

 _'Japanese?'_ they wondered. "Go on. Go on." He said.

"...t-torpedo...b-bombers...ammo...storage...exploded..." She said in between gasps.

"Ammo storage?" Tony asked.

"Torpedo bombers?" Carlos wondered.

"What is she talking about? Does she even know what happened?" Shaun asked.

"I think she might be delirious or something..." Gonzales replied.

The girl mumbled something else. "...m-must...p-protect...harbor..." She tried getting up again, but failed.

"Just relax and stay still. We'll get you some medical attention, but first. What is your name? We need to verify your identity." Tony said.

"...B...B...39...A-Arizona..." She said, before passing out.

"What did she say?" Gonzales asked Tony.

"She mentioned the Arizona...for some reason...I think she might not even know her own name right now." he responded.

"Why don't we look at her name patch then?" Shaun said. The four of them looked at her patch. They were surprised to see what it read: ARIZONA, BB-39.

* * *

 **San Diego Naval Base, same time...**

Missouri neared the base in no time. She was exhausted. Her hair was a mess, her uniform a little ripped, and unable to use her radio since the tower got damaged. She figured that the personnel might not be aware of her existence, so to play it safe, she decided that the best option would to sneak in and look for her COs for further orders. Some patrol boats were doing their rounds, so she shrunk back to human size to avoid their attention.

She reached the Silver Strand Beach. Due to paranoia, the place was deserted. No people, no cars. She went straight towards the docks of the base afterwards. She saw most of the U.S. Navy's ships were there undergoing repairs or just moored. Notable was the USS George Washington (CVN-73) which had a huge hole blown on its left.

"Ow. That's gonna leave a mark on the budget." Missouri commented. She climbed up the emergency access ladder at the dry dock. Now it was time to look for Jansen.

"That was surprisingly easy. Ok. Now to-" she got cut off by someone.

"Hey! What are you..." a Port Security guard saw her near the edge of the dry dock. The shout of "Hey!" froze her in place. His voice trailed off when he noticed her uniform. He immediately saluted.

"Ma'am! I...uhhh...didn't notice your uniform! I am very sorry for shouting at you." He apologized.

Missouri took a deep breath. _'Phew! This guy scared me for a second.'_

"Oh. It's ok. I was j-just...having some fresh air." She turned to face the guard, while scratching her head. The guard was still saluting.

"You can put your arm down now." She pointed at his hand and motioned for him to put it down. The guard did so.

"Yes ma'am." He said. He looked at her uniform. She was an officer alright. 17 ribbons and a medal were pinned on her coat's left breast. However, her skirt seemed off. Pleated, length was 2-inches above her knees and she was wearing knee-high socks. He decided not to question it though.

"I don't believe I've seen you around the base before." The guard said to the ship girl. "You a new transfer, ma'am?"

Missouri played along. "Uh...yeah! I just got here." The guard acknowledged her statement. "Okay then, ma'am. I'll be continuing my patrol. Have a good day." He said as he walked off in the opposite direction.

"Thank goodness he didn't see the rips. Now to find the Admiral."

Jansen and Penny were in the hospital lobby after being evaluated for injury. Henderson was taken away for treatment due to his leg. The two had no injuries at all, except for a few bruises. Jansen, however, was still wondering if Missouri was still alive.

"We sent a girl to fight aliens...we sent A GIRL. A lone girl to fight aliens...wow." He put his head on his hands.

"She destroyed nearly all of 'em, sir. That's a good thing...right?" Penny asked. They were both sitting on chairs, watching crewmen and officers being brought into the base's hospital for treatment. They were going to be debriefed after a while.

"It is a good thing. What's bothering me is that we just sent the spirit of the USS Missouri to fight alien creatures..." He took his hat off, examined it, and put it on his lap.

"S-sir. I think she can handle herself. She's survived 3 wars, I'm sure she can survive this one." Penny said. "And besides sir. She's a spirit. How can you kill a spirit?"

The doors of the hospital opened. A familiar person walked over to the receptionist.

"Excuse me. I'm looking for a Rear Admiral Jansen?" She asked the receptionist.

"Oh. He's right over there." The receptionist pointed to the chairs where Penny and Jansen sat. She thanked the receptionist. Missouri walked towards them.

"Admiral! Secretary Penny!" She called out. Jansen looked up and towards her voice, so did Penny. When Jansen looked up, his face was priceless.

"Holy shit. You're alive?!" Jansen said as Missouri sat down beside him. He noticed that her coat was ripped in some places. Her skirt, not so much (fortunately).

"M-Missouri! A-are you hurt?" Penny asked.

"Thanks for your concern, but I'm fine." Missouri politely said. "Now..." she turned to Jansen and asked, "What are my orders now, Admiral?"

Jansen was surprised. "Wait, what?" he replied.

"Well...since Admiral Henderson is WIA, I take my orders from you now." Missouri explained. Jansen sat straight up and started contemplating.

"I actually didn't think up to this part..." He tapped his chin. He really didn't think it through. What was he gonna do with a ship girl anyway?

"...wait a second...How did you get here anyway?" He asked.

"Oh. I snuck in. I figured that the people here might not know about my existence. My uniform serves as a great disguise to pretend to be an officer. Although I was accosted by a lot of men on the way. I guess it must be something about my uniform that they find attractive." Missouri said. Truth be told, even men like a girl in uniform. Didn't help that she had a Grade B Zettai Ryouki on.

"Your uniform is very eye catching if you ask me..." Jansen said. He started thinking on what he should do with her.

"Penny?" He tapped his secretary.

"Y-yes, sir?"

"The UN scientists are still here right?"

"They are. Why?"

He turned to Missouri.

"Missouri. We're gonna have to turn you in to the scientists" He said.

"Turn...me...in? I don't get it, sir." She asked back, tilting her head in curiosity.

"Well...you're not exactly supposed to be here so technically you're tresspassing, although you're still our property or something. They know much more than we do about you so you'll be going with 'em for a while."

She nodded. "Ok Admiral."

"They're gonna 'evaluate' you or whatever they're supposed to do with you. 'Cause...y'know...you got naval guns and missiles...you aren't really a normal human." Jansen then remembered that she wasn't wearing her rig.

"Wait a second...where are your stuff anyway?"

"Do you want me to equip them now, sir?"

Jansen put his hands forward in a don't-do-it motion.

"NO! I mean...not now."

* * *

 **San Diego Naval Base, 1800 hours...**

The naval base was busy with the amount of injured personnel being brought in from Hawaii. The hospital was full, so most of them were put on stretchers and mats in tents outside. Doctors from civilian hospitals were requested to come to the base due to the sheer amount of people.

A helicopter arrived. It was one of the many choppers carrying injured people from Pearl Harbor. It unloaded the injured in it, one of which was Arizona. Nurses and other naval personnel wheeled them on stretchers to the hospital. Meanwhile, Jansen, Penny and Missouri were walking out of the hospital. Missouri noticed the girl in an outdated uniform on a stretcher.

"Hey...umm. Sir. I think I recognize that one," she said, pointing at Arizona.

"What? Who are you pointing at?" Jansen asked.

"That girl they're transporting. That's Arizona," she replied. Jansen was confused. When did they get Arizona?

"What do you mean 'That's Arizona?'" Jansen asked.

"I recognize her uniform. Undress Blue Service Uniform from WW2. We used to talk sometimes in the Memorial," Missouri explained.

 _"What the fuck is she talking about?"_ Jansen didn't bother to think about it too deeply and decided that the scientists would figure it out instead.

"Penny. Can you tell those guys to come over here?" he asked his secretary. She nodded.

"Y-yes sir." she said as she ran over to the two male nurses. After a few secs, they went to Jansen's position with Arizona.

"Admiral!" they said as they saluted. "What can we do for you, sir?"

"At ease, guys. I'm gonna need you to bring that girl with the outdated uniform with me," he said.

"Huh? Why, sir?"

Jansen looked around before telling them, "Uhhh...she's part of a...'special program' in which she requires more...scientific attention." He hoped that they would follow what he said.

The nurses looked at each other, then they looked back at him after one of them shrugged. "Okay, sir. Whatever you say."

Jansen sighed in relief. He turned to the UN-occupied hangar at the base.

"Alrighty then. Follow me."

* * *

 **UN Hangar, San Diego Naval Base, 18:30 hours...**

"VAT DO YOU MEAN IT MISFIRED?!" Dr. Koenigg shouted. Upon being told of what happened to the cannon, he was pissed due to the fragile status of the weapon. It cost billions just to make the first two prototypes. The first one blew up on its first test. The second one refused to fire. The current laser, the XM-03, was made from modifications to the previous XM-02 but was still quite faulty.

"Kaeriga put in the firing code by mistake. I managed to put the proper deactivation code instead." One of the scientists said. Koenigg facepalmed.

"DID IT HIT ANYTHING?!"

"Not that I know of, Doctor..."

Koenigg sat down on a folding chair. He grabbed a bottle of water from a nearby table and drank it. He started contemplating on what to do with Dr. Kaeriga.

"Dr. Koenigg...I'm very sorry. Please forgive me..." Kaeriga started crying. Koenigg was still thinking on what he should do with her.

"I'll resign, Doctor. I don't deserve to be on this team..." She was in the process of throwing down her ID when Koenigg stopped her.

"You're a rookie, Kaeriga. Yes?" He asked her. She nodded her head.

"You're still part of the team, however, I need to assign you to other things instead."

"Okay, Doctor. *sniff*" Kaeriga picked up her ID and went outside. She was comforted by the other female scientists. Jansen, Penny and Missouri saw them leave.

"Huh. I wonder what happened?" Penny said as they were entering the hangar. Jansen pushed the stretcher inside. He ordered the nurses to leave due to "classified stuff".

"Umm...excuse me! Err...us!" Jansen said. All the scientists looked at him. Koenigg turned to see Jansen and his entourage.

"Oh! Ah, you! You're one of ze officers from za test. Admiral...uhhh...Jackson? Or vas it...Jansen? Ah, yes! Jansen! Vat are you doing here?"

Jansen walked to him. He motioned to Missouri to come forward as well.

"You managed to find ze ship girl!" Koenigg exclaimed. They weren't able to keep tabs on Missouri once the assault started.

"Not really, Doctor. It's more like she found us instead. Anyway, I'm turning her and another 'ship girl' over to you guys." Jansen said. Koenigg was surprised when he mentioned another one.

"Another one? Vat do you mean 'another one'?"

"Missouri claims that this girl on the stretcher is USS Arizona," Jansen pointed to the girl on the stretcher. Koenigg went over and examined her. Red hair, somewhat busty, slender yet muscular built, outdated uniform. The namepatch which bore her name made it very clear that she was "Arizona".

"Hmmm...ve'll need to take the two of them to the research center inland. Once we finish checking if they're safe to keep around other humans, ve'll inform the command." Koenigg picked up a clipboard from a nearby table.

"Ok, Doctor. Please take care of 'em."

"Do not vorry. Ve vill not treat zem inhumanly like in zose movies and novels. Ve have morals, Admiral, if zat's what you're thinking."

"Just making sure." Jansen turned back to Penny.

"Okay. Let's go, Penny."

"Y-yes, sir."

They both proceeded to exit the closed hangar.

"Ve'll contact you once we're done as vell, Admiral Jansen." Koenigg said as they were walking to the door.

"Thanks, Doctor. I'm expecting to hear from you soon."


	6. Research and Developments

**February 11, 2042, Somewhere inland, USA, [TIME UNKNOWN]  
**

It was a day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Missouri was being taken to a research facility somewhere in her home country together with Arizona. The ride there was silent, no one speaking aside from the pilots of the white-colored C-130J "Super Hercules" with the letters 'U.N.' marked on the sides of the plane. Still clad in her unique variation of the Service Dress Blue uniform, Missouri was seated next to the UN Peacekeeper guards on her left and scientists on her right. In front of her, in a secured stretcher, unconscious, was Arizona. Her red hair was still disheveled, as was her Undress Blue Service uniform. When the plane landed, they all exited. The facility was apparently in the middle of a desert. It looked like a simple USAF airfield. It had a few hangars, a control tower, and some other buildings, presumably the barracks for the personnel. It was quite cloudy that day, although other aircraft with the same markings as the Super Hercules were arriving. One of the hangars was open, and inside Missouri saw a strange-looking aircraft. It was jet-black, and had a very strange shape. It was triangularish, and resembled the UFOs she shot down the previous day.

 _"Huh. That looks like one of the UFOs... If it is...how'd they capture it?"_ She thought to herself. She was just standing there looking at it when a soldier nudged her.

"Keep moving, ma'am. We're on a tight schedule here."

"Oh. Sorry."

"No need for apologies, ma'am. Just proceed." He answered back.

Missouri was escorted by that same soldier to a certain building. It was far bigger than the barracks, only superseded by the hangars and control tower. The XM-03, covered by a large tarpaulin, was being dragged by a pick-up truck (also w/ UN markings) towards the same building. The building had two blast doors that slid apart showing what looked like a very large cargo elevator. As they were going in, she saw Dr. Koenigg and the other lead scientists overseeing the transfer of the laser into the elevator. An ambulance entered as well. It was then when Missouri wondered...where was Arizona?

 _"Is Ari in that ambulance? Didn't notice where they wheeled her off to when we got off..."_ She thought.

After the max amount of personnel was reached, the blast doors closed and the elevator began its slow descent downwards. It wasn't long though, around 25 minutes before it stopped. The second set of blast doors opened to reveal two entrances: a tunnel for vehicles, and an underground tram for the personnel. Koenigg and the rest of the lead scientists got on the back of the pick-up dragging the laser. Meanwhile, the ambulance unloaded Arizona and the remaining people, including Missouri, boarded the tram. The whole place had a very futuristic feel to it, with smooth-looking surroundings with a gray tint. The lights were still fluorescent lights though. The speakers in the tram suddenly announced:

"WELCOME TO RESTRICTED AREA 4808 OR KNOWN AS AREA 51. TO ALL INCOMING PERSONNEL, PLEASE OBSERVE SAFETY PROCEDURES AND CAUTION AS YOU PROCEED. THANK YOU."

"This is Area 51?!" She exclaimed. The soldier shushed her as the tram operator closed the doors and started the tram up. It had barely any windows due to them being extremely small slits. The soldier escorting her poked her on the back.

"Please do keep quiet, ma'am. Or else I might have to silence you again." He said. Missouri turned her head to him.

"What do you mean by 'silencing' me?"

"Protocol says I just have to shush you each time. Did you think I was going to shoot you?" The soldier jokingly replied in a soft voice. Missouri tilted her head in a way that impiied 'Would you?'

"I wouldn't do that. I'm sorry if I sounded threatening. Poor choice of words on my part."

"Oh. But would you actually do that?"

"No! Of course not! Unless you were a wild animal, or a hostile alien. But you aren't."

Not long after. The tram stopped. All of them exited. Missouri was escorted to a separate area that looked like a prison block.

"Why does this place look like a maximum security prison?"

"What? Oh no, this is actually the residential block. You're being given a room here."

"Wait, what? So even the people working here live here?"

"Yeah. Orders from Doctor Koenigg are to accommodate you here. If he didn't say so, we'd probably accommodate you in a lesser room."

"Lesser room?"

"It'd have less amenities. See for yourself."

The soldier pulled out a keycard and placed it in the scanner. Afterwards, the door opened into the room. It looked like a hotel room, but without fancy furniture as they were all just basic, minimalistic-looking furniture made of plastic. No windows as they were underground. There was no kitchen, but the room was very spacious. It had a bed for one person, a bathroom, and a chair with a TV in front of it.

"Wow. So is this one of the first-class suites?" She asked.

"I'd call it one of the second-class suites. The first-class ones are for the guys who run the place. This area is for miscellaneous personnel. There's other areas for troops and scientists." The soldier explained.

"The place must be bigger than I thought." Missouri said, placing a hand on her chin.

"There's a map of the base in the drawer beside the bed. Now I gotta go. You'll be picked up when your evaluation commences." The soldier said as he was about to leave. Before he left, he said one more thing:

"By the way, ma'am. Here's a little trivia for you: This ain't the only top secret research base in the world, but you didn't hear that from me though." He whispered.

Missouri sat down on the bed. "Hmph. It looks like today's gonna be very interesting..."

* * *

"How is she?" A voice said.

"Vital signs are stable, so she should be alright." Another one replied.

"Ok. Good. We'll leave her here to recover. If she wakes up, notify the doctor."

"Yes, sir." The other two voices responded.

The voices started getting softer, farther and more incomprehensible after she heard the *shunk!* sound of the door closing. It all felt so strange to Arizona. One minute she was just an entity present on her own wreck, having the occasional chat with her friend and fellow entity, Missouri. Then suddenly, she witnessed some people shoot a beam at her friend, saw some black disks bombing those same people. Then afterwards, her memories flooded her thoughts until she blacked out. Now, she was brought somewhere she didn't know. She was well aware that she felt quite heavy, though, as if she already had a body.

 _"M-Missouri? A-Are you there...? Uhhhhhhh...why do I feel so lightheaded...?"_ She thought to herself. Arizona wanted to open her eyes, but she felt too weak to do so. She proceeded to try and force her eyes open, regardless.

 _"Nnngh! C'mon...I need to know where I am!"_ She managed to squint, but quickly closed her eyes due to the bright light.

 _"Ahhhhh! Too bright! At least i know I'm in a building, I think."_ After all that effort, she felt tired again. She couldn't really feel anything ever since she blacked out, but she was starting to feel something soft on her back. The sensation slowly spread to her arms, the back of her head, and her legs. She was still too weak to move though.

 _"I think I can feel something now... It's like I'm...on my...back...so soft..."_ The sense of touch was starting to come back and Arizona was slowly able to open her eyes a little wider now. She winced at the light, but as her eyes adjusted to it, she was able to see clearly. She was looking at a white ceiling. She managed to slowly turn her head to the right and saw that the room she was in was a white hospital room. Neatly arranged hospital beds were occupying the room. She turned her head slowly to the left and saw a heartbeat monitor and a high-tech looking sliding door. It was metallic, with a tinted, one-way window. A card reader was mounted on the right. Just like the rest of the room, it was also grayish-white in color. Shortly after, she felt weak again and laid her head back.

 _"Ok. I'm in a hospital...I think. That's good...but I don't see Missouri around here. Did she get a body as well?"_ She wondered as a feeling of drowsiness started to overcome her.

 _"I hope you're okay, Missouri..."_ Arizona thought as she faded off back into sleep.

* * *

Missouri was being escorted to somewhere else in the complex. The same soldier who brought her to her room was the one escorting her.

"You know, I've noticed something." She said as she looked around the empty hallway. It was lit, but the walls were painted in dark gray and there were barely any windows to the rooms, which were only accessible by vault doors, and very few.

"What?" He answered, without looking back at her.

"Almost all the windows here are one-way. It's because of the 'top secret' stuff, right?"

"Yeah. It's only on this sector of the complex. We're just taking a short cut through it." The soldier said casually as Missouri raised her eyebrows at the statement.

"This sector only? Is is okay for us to pass here?" She asked in a doubtful tone.

"It is. Don't worry, We have clearance from Dr. Koenigg." The soldier said as they continued walking down the ambiently-lit hallway.

"Is it for that assessment thing?"

"Orders are to bring you to one of his team's members whose in charge of assessing your memory." The soldier said as he pulled out a keycard and scanned it to open one of the doors. The area that they entered had grayish-white colored walls. There was a big red cross that adorned the wall in front. Below the cross read: "Medical Hospital Sector". They were greeted with the sight of medical personnel and other base personnel walking down the hallways and interacting with each other. A stark contrast to deserted, empty feel of the previous area.

The soldier stopped in front of a room. A lone female scientist was inside, discussing with three other male scientists. Koenigg was nowhere to be seen.

"Well. We're here. I'll be standing guard outside, ma'am," The soldier said as he prepared to press the buzzer to signal the people inside to their presence. Missouri warmly smiled at him.

"Thank you, mister...uhhh... I beg your pardon but...what...is your name, sir?" She asked. The soldier pressed the buzzer as she asked.

"Staff Sergeant Rainer Costello, ma'am. Area 51 Security Detachment." He answered.

"It was nice meeting you, Sergeant Costello. I'm-"

"The USS Missouri? Yeah. I know." He laughed slightly. "I was told that I would be escorting the famous battleship's 'soul', or something. It was nice meeting you as well."

Missouri shook his hand and waved at him as she walked into the room.

"Um...hello. I'm here," Missouri said as she approached the four scientists in the room. They didn't hear her as they were discussing. It looked like a normal doctor's office. There was even the area where the patient would be given a medical check-up and everything else. She didn't know the three male scientists, but she happened to recognize the female one who was reading something on a high-tech tablet. She had messy, jet-black hair that looked to be graying near the ears which was tied into an equally messy-looking ponytail held together by a couple of rubber bands. In contrast, she looked quite young, around her late 20s. She had eyeglasses, which were suspended above her bosom by what looked to be an improvised eyeglasses string made of ordinary string. Her lab coat was only buttoned up to her stomach, and she was wearing a pink polo shirt. Dangling in front of the shirt was her ID card. She was also wearing blue jeans, black shoes and a silver-plated watch.

"D-Doctor Kaeriga?"

"Hmm? Yes?" Kaeriga said as she suddenly looked up. Her brown eyes connected to Missouri's blue ones. They widened in surprise.

 _"Oh! It's her!"_ she thought. The other three male scientists also turned to see her.

 _"So this is Missouri..."_

 _"Wow! She's tall!"_

 _"Ah. She's arrived,"_ They all thought.

"I guess you recognize me from that incident a while back..." Kaeriga said as she stood up, scratched her head and walked towards Missouri.

"Well I guess we'll have to leave you to your business, Kaeriga," a scientist said. The other three scientists left the room afterwards.

"So you're in charge of assessing me, huh?" Missouri asked as the door closed behind her. It was only her and Kaeriga in the room now.

"Er...yes. I have to ask you questions about yourself before we move on to the rest of your assessment," Kaeriga said, eyes still on the tablet. With one hand, she pulled up a chair for herself and pulled up another for Missouri, still without taking her eyes off the tablet.

"So this is gonna be like an interview?" Missouri asked as she sat down, took off her cap and placed it on the table. She arranged her collar and daintily placed her hands on her lap. Kaeriga sat down afterwards.

"Well, in a way it is," she said as she finally put down the tablet and looked at Missouri.

"Ok then. So what do you want to know?"

* * *

 **Several hours later...**

Shortly after the interview, Missouri was escorted back to the room she was assigned to by Costello while Kaeriga brought the tablet with the recording of the interview to Koenigg's lab in the base. It was a short walk.

When she arrived and handed Koenigg the tablet, he scanned the transcript of Missouri's interview, as they were also listening from the same room. _"Incredible! She has complete memory of almost everything zat her ship form has experienced both in and out of service. Expected indeed..."_ He thought. Missouri had basically told Kaeriga her "life story", from her launching on the 29th of January in 1944 up until the present.

"Jesus! It was like a history lesson...except more fun to listen to, honestly," Kaeriga said as she cleaned her glasses. "She remembered all the personal info of those crew members who served on her, but she spared me from telling each one's. She only told me about the ones she found 'interesting' - thank god they weren't so many - but she knew all these little tidbits about them that it was just astonishing to know that she knows this much. It's like she's got some mental logbook in her head!"

Another scientist spoke up as well, "So she has the memory of an elephant? The American Historical Commission would be dying to get this information from her. Imagine all the different perspectives of World War 2, Korea and the Gulf War that we could know!"

Koenigg chuckled. "Ah vell. It's unfortunate zat we can't hand her over just yet. Ze Department of Defense wants a demonstration of her capabilities before zey green-light za project."

The scientist with the British accent from before picked up the tablet that Koenigg set down on the table nearby. "Isn't the footage from the attack enough already for them? I mean bloody hell, man. I guess the Americans still want to see explosions before they give the go-ahead, 'uh?"

"Looks like it. I remember the officer assigned to us said that we're supposed to bring her somewhere for that purpose," Kaeriga said as she twirled her I.D. around. "Where was it by the way?"

One of them answered, "I think he said it was Lake Mead."

* * *

 **February 12, 2042, Lake Mead, Nevada, USA [1000 hours]**

"My, my. I'm gonna demonstrate my skills here, huh? Looks like you guys picked the best testing ground," Missouri said as the Black Hawk approached Lake Mead. The DoD had already closed off the area, not that it mattered since not many people were around except for the people at Hoover Dam. She was accompanied by Sgt. Costello and Dr. Kaeriga. Other helicopters were following them as well, containing the rest of the research team and the the Department of Defense and DARPA offficials who were there to witness her weapon test. They had arranged for some second-hand boats to be brought there for her to use as targets. There was also other equipment present near the shore, mostly recording equipment. The choppers landed, with everyone vacating it shortly after.

"It's pretty much a little show of your firepower for the DoD before we officially start the Ship-Girl Program." Kaeriga said as they walked to the rest of the scientists. Missouri looked to the right and saw the DoD officials gathered under a tent. They were also looking towards her direction, although some of them were talking to each other.

"Wow. They seem to like dressing up like the Men in Black, don't they?" Missouri said, noticing that many of them were wearing black suits and sunglasses. Costello chuckled a bit.

"Morning sun too bright for them, I guess. Probably what happens if you work desk jobs most of the time," he said.

"Well I've been sitting in the sun for 47 years and that hasn't done anything really bad to me. Except for the stiff back and all but I think I'm still good. Ehehe..." She said as they approached Koenigg's group.

"Velcome to Lake Mead! How vas ze morning for you, Missouri?" Koenigg said to her. Unlike Kaeriga and the other scientists, who were still wearing their lab coats, Koenigg decided not to wear his on that day, instead opting for a checkered polo shirt and black slacks. Of course Costello was still wearing full combat gear, and Missouri herself was still wearing the same peaked US Navy officer's hat and Service Dress Blue coat with all her service awards, pleated skirt, thigh-high socks and boots. It was a semi-formal and somewhat strange getup, but it was somewhat fashionable nevertheless.

"It was great! Breakfast was the best, although I'm sorry I almost ate half of the scrambled eggs, hotdogs and mac and cheese..." she said as she scratched her head. Apparently, having a body didn't change her "fuel" requirements, which is quite a huge requirement if you are a seafaring vehicle.

Koenigg walked along with their group, leading them to the tent where the officials were waiting.

"Guten morgen, gentlemen!" Koenigg greeted as he approached them, with the officials shaking his hand as he did.

"Dr. Koenigg. Great of you to be here at this occasion," one of the men replied. He looked like he was in his fifties. "I'm going to assume that the young lady on your right is 'Missouri', am I correct?"

"Vhy yes, sir," Koenigg said as he nodded and turned to Missouri.

"Frau Missouri, zis is DARPA Director Nolan Carradine. Von of ze project's backers," Koenigg said to her as Director Carradine held his hand out to her.

"Oh!" Missouri quickly saluted him and shook his hand. "Sir! Honor to meet the man in charge of our technological advantages!"

The Director wiggled his hand and rubbed it a little shortly after shaking her hand.

"Wow," he said with a little laugh. "You have quite a...strong grip for a lady, haha. It's a pleasure to meet you."

He turned to Koenigg and asked to proceed with the demonstration. Koenigg agreed and Missouri was ushered to the shore for it.

"Hello? Is zis loud enough?" Koenigg asked as he spoke using a microphone. "Now I shall proceed vith ze demonstration. So once again, guten morgen gentlemen. I am Doctor Hermann Koenigg of ze United Nations Laser Veapons Program, although by now it might have already been changed to ze Special Varfare Program as ve speak." Koenigg then turned sideways to show Missouri on the shore near the lake, surrounded by several of his team-Costello and Kaeriga included.

"As you all know, za woman in ze non-standard uniform over there is ze manifestation of za soul of ze famous battleship: Missouri. Based on ze result of vhat happened during ze attack on Pearl Harbor two days ago, ve have determined zat ze proposed project based from ze original laser project vas deemed a success," Koenigg explained.

"The 'shipgirl' project. Right, Doctor?" one of the audience asked.

"Exactly. It has been determined zat her effectiveness against ze attacking UAOs is just vat we need in order to protect za Pacific from zese things until ve find where zey come from. So far, based on our research, ve have found some interesting discoveries about ze capabilities of Missouri," Koenigg said as he pointed to a slideshow presentation with a small remote.

"She has complete memory of almost everything zat she has experienced prior to her obtaining a body," Koenigg said as he changed the slide. His audience looked on in curiosity.

"Ve have managed to record za interview zat vas conducted yesterday. I vill not play it now due to ze time constraints, however. It vas also discovered zat she is able to change size to one comparable to a three-story building," he said as the next slide showed a diagram of Missouri growing to the same height described from her human size.

"Her veapons also retain their firepower regardless of her size. Za latter two vill be demonstrated later. I vill entertain questions from all of you aftervards."

While Koenigg was busy explaining, his team was prepping Missouri for the demo.

"Ok, Missouri. The whole thing's pretty simple: you just need to perform some...maneuvers or whatever around those buoys and blow up those old boats that we set up for you," Kaeriga explained. The others were preparing the recording equipment for documentation. Costello was standing guard with some other security detachment troops.

"So in other words, imma give 'em a show, right Doctor K?" Missouri asked. Kaeriga was surprised to hear what she was called.

"What?"

"Ehehehe. I just thought I could call you that since your surname starts with K and since you're a professor and all that," Missouri replied. Kaeriga just smiled and laughed a little.

"I don't mind. Although I have to say, I hope you don't accidentally fire at the tent AND the equipment here. I remember you using several spinning moves in the footage of your battle, so don't get too carried away."

Missouri nodded. "Understood, Doc," she replied. Koenigg was almost done explaining, so it was almost showtime.

"Now ve shall have Missouri demonstrate her skills to us." Missouri heard Koenigg say. Kaeriga then told her: "It's time."

Missouri looked towards the tent. "Oh I'll give 'em a show they won't forget..." she said with a smile.


	7. An Important Announcement

Missouri walked towards the water just as Koenigg announced the beginning of the live-fire demonstration of her weaponry.

"As you can see, ve have set up a few practice targets for ze ship girl. Zis vill also be a demonstration of her increased mobility thanks to her human form," he said as he spoke through the microphone.

She slowly started to run towards the water to pick up momentum. As soon as one of her feet made contact with the water, her boots transformed into the previously-mentioned high-heels with rudders but now they could see that the propulsion propellers were attached right under the soles, and her rigging appeared. Instead of running, Missouri was now gracefully skating on the water like a professional figure skater.

As she quickly approached the first target, she had her Mark 7 naval cannon turrets aim at it and fire. The old speedboat was quickly vaporized in a massive explosion. The crowd was amazed at how much firepower she still had despite the smaller size of the cannons.

"He wasn't kidding," one of the Director's advisors whispered. "It looks like she perfectly miniaturized the cannon shells..."

Director Carradine simply watched as Missouri moved on to the next target boat. Instead of firing any of her weapons, she just rammed straight through the boat, no worse for wear.

"As you can see, she has ze ability of enhanced strength," Koenigg commented as Missouri grew to max size and jumped over a small, rock island on the lake while spinning. She landed perfectly on another target boat, and proceeded to the next set of targets.

Sgt. Costello laughed. "She's really showing it off, huh?" he said offhandedly to Dr. Kaeriga, who shook her head and smiled.

Missouri shrunk down to normal size and stopped a good distance from four target boats. The ABL on her right aimed slightly upwards. Four Tomahawks launched from it and hit all targets. She proceeded to continue skating towards the final few target boats near the tent where the officials were watching from. Four Mark 12 naval guns appeared on her arms as she outstretched them sideways and performed a spin.

Kaeriga pushed her glasses up. "She's doing exactly what I told her not to..." she said as she crossed her arms.

Missouri fired her naval guns while spinning, the shells hitting the boats and water around them. Fortunately, she didn't aim high, so the stray shells didn't hit the tent. She continued skating without losing momentum, then she performed a waltz jump and stopped with a bow on the water in front of the tent. The officials applauded.

Carradine pulled Koenigg aside. "Now that we've actually had a 'proper' demonstration, it appears that you've won us over, Doctor. Although I do believe that we should have just greenlighted the project based on the footage we got from the battle."

"Ah, vell. Ze other officials did want to see it for themselves, but yes it is a vaste of time and effort," Koenigg replied with Director Carradine sighing in response.

"So when will the next shipgirls be scheduled to appear?" The Director asked

"Once you tell us vich ones you need. It vill depend on vich ships ze Navy vants converted, Director." Koenigg answered.

"Alright. Our additional funding for the program is guaranteed. I hope those girls appear soon. Who knows when and where the UAOs will attack next..." Director Carradine said worriedly as he patted Koenigg on the back and rejoined the posse of officials.

As they left, the Shipgirl Program Team were left to clean up the place with aid from Area 51. Once again, Missouri was escorted back to the same Black Hawk she arrived in and carried back to the base.

"So Doc? Sergeant? What happens now?" Missouri asked. The two looked at each other, then Kaeriga spoke up.

"Weeeeeell...let's just wait for our next orders," she said.

* * *

 **February 13, 2042, The Pentagon, Virginia, USA [0900 hours]**

In the conference room of the Department of the Navy, the US Navy's top brass were discussing the creation of the Unconventional Warfare Unit (or U.W.U.), the unit of the US Navy which would be responsible for the operation, overseeing and maintenance of the shipgirls that would be created for the navy. The unit was planned to be under the Special Warfare Command (As the threat was mostly in the Pacific, they would also work alongside the Pacific Command and would be transferable depending on where the threat manifests) and would have a seml-autonomous type of command structure, as it would be constantly deploying against the U.A.O. threat and would need to make decisions by itself. The Special Warfare Command was only tasked with monitoring the unit and to provide support if needed.

The chain of command had a basic layout: it would be an unusual one as the one in overall command would be an admiral, preferably a rear admiral, with multiple base personnel both enlisted and unenlisted who would maintain the condition of the naval base they would be operating out of. Several officers were to be assigned for duty as the Observation and Planning Team - they would be the ones cooperating with the personnel of the Perimeter Defense Center of the base and utilize special drones and radar meant to detect any abnormal readings in the seas around the USA. They would also help the Admiral plan for required Operations depending on what threats encountered. The other personnel would be selected from the same naval base, as the unit was to be integrated into base itself.

The shipgirls were planned to have their own quarters at the base. It would be separated from the normal barracks/residential area of the base. Further evaluation on the behavior of the girls will be required to see if it would be okay to allow other personnel contact with them. They would have their own mess hall as well.

"Lets see how well this structure performs. However, we're going to need to check and evaluate which of our current roster of admirals and commissioned officers can qualify for the roles," the current Chief of Naval Operations, Damien Prendergast said. Even though he had no direct military control, he had to see if the organizational structure of this special new unit would have the desired effectiveness.

"We'll have to appoint someone who can interact with these...'ship girls' comfortably. After all, we're expecting that the...'souls' will manifest as female therefore the unit will comprise mostly of women," the US Pacific Commander, Admiral Victor Serkis spoke. The people present, aside from the CNO and the USPACOM, were the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Navy, all the commanders in the USPACOM, the senior commanders from Vice Admiral above and DARPA Director Carradine.

"Even though that Doctor Koenigg explained to us the details of their creation, I still can't wrap my head around the whole concept of 'soul extraction' and all that. it all sounds like something straight out of a movie," Navy Secretary Wright said.

"This is going to be a large-scale project. As such, we can't keep this under wraps from the public for too long. Of course the people will have to know that what we're doing is for the sake of this country's, and maybe even the world's safety," Defense Secretary Ryan spoke. They all murmured in agreement.

"I wonder how the PR campaign will go? I think the people would be confused or maybe worried if they found out our only defense against the 'aliens' is a bevy of women with superpowers and magical disappearing naval weapons," Vice Admiral Charlie Mestin said.

"Perhaps we can take a page from how the JSDF did a few years back? You know, like that recruitment campaign involving...what do you call those cartoons...'anime'? If I'm correct?" Admiral Conway Charmond replied.

"What? No way! That's a stupid idea! We can just go and be like 'Hey these ladies are cute superheroes! Blah blah blah!' Nobody'll take this seriously..." Admiral Karl Santi reacted. Secretary Ryan cleared his throat.

"Gentlemen. We'll cross that bridge when we reach it. The Secretary-General did tell us in advance that this would become a global initiative if it was successful, correct?" he said. Carradine, who was present via videoconference from his office in Arlington, Virginia, replied,"Yes. That is correct. So far, we're trying to replicate the characteristics of the XM-03 Laser Cannon with assistance from ARPA-E so we can quickly assemble the required shipgirls."

"'Say, Nolan. You and Russell've met that girl already haven't you two? How's she like? Charmond asked.

"Which girl? The ship girl?"

"Uh huh."

"First impression upon meeting her: she's very in-the-know, and proud of this country. I was introduced to her by Koenigg. For a '98 year-old' woman, she's pretty strong. Literally. I think she almost crushed my hand," he said, laughing a little afterwards.

"What? That must be some grip." Mestin reacted.

"How 'bout you, Russ?"

"Oh, me? Well first time I met her was during the test. I'd agree with Nolan on the fact that she's very well aware of who's in charge," Henderson, who was also speaking via videoconference from his hospital bed in San Diego, said.

"She's pretty nice. Saved me together with Bob's boy, Oscar, and his secretary from an alien during the attack on Pearl. But damn! Girl's got a helluva strength and helluva height! She's almost as tall as me and I'm quite tall myself."

"I don't see how hard promoting them'll be. Although convincing the public about their capabilities is kind of a problem..." Charmond trailed off.

"Back to the topic now, Admiral Conway. How's the progress of the replication so far?" Secretary Ryan said.

"The Laser seems to have a bit of power and energy delivery problems. They boys at the lab say that that's possibly how the Laser works as it is," Carradine said while looking through files on his desk in his office.

'We're trying to see if this can be reproduced successfully, but it will take a lot of time."

"Alright. Now we have to see which of these officers can handle a 'fleet' of mostly female personnel. We already have general idea of how Missouri behaves, but we're not sure if the other ship girls will exhibit a similar personality and behavior," Admiral Prendergast said as a holographic projection of all the commissioned officers from Rear Admiral to below appeared in front of them above the holoprojector of the conference room table.

"All of their profiles must be evaluated to see who are most suitable for the tasks. This will take some time as well, but I hope we can find the perfect personnel for the tasks soon." he said.

"Prendergast. Is it alright if I make a suggestion?" Henderson asked.

"What? Already, Admiral Henderson?" Prendergast responded in amazement. "Well, okay then. Shoot."

"I'd recommend Robert's son, Oscar, for the position of unit commander. He already has experience with Missouri. In fact, he coordinated her defense of Pearl Harbor and her elimination of U.A.O. units from the area in my place. So I believe he has some degree of qualification for the job."

"Oscar...you mean Rear Admiral Jansen?! He was the one who commanded Missouri?!" Admiral Santi exclaimed. "I thought she did it alone!"

"Jansen's just newly promoted! Are you sure this isn't favoritism, because I know you're close friends with Robert..." Admiral Rhaea Algerson asked.

"No it's not. I just see the potential in him. I witnessed it myself while we were being airlifted back to San Diego. I gave him permission to use the Live Satellite System to do so."

"Hmmm...let's just see if he truly is capable. There's still a lot of candidates to check. But thank you for the suggestion." Prendergast said.

"Now it seems that this conference is over. The evaluation team will report the selected personnel as soon as they have finished. As will DARPA and ARPA-E once they have finished with their tasks as well. The conference is adjourned."

* * *

 **February 18, 2042. San Diego Naval Base, [1200 hours]**

Jansen sat in his office, watching the news on his tablet. So far, he and none of his fellow officers were given further orders other than to remain at the naval base until they were given some. So in a way, they had a whole week off since the attack. Penny was just filing some old paperwork for digital scanning later on.

"Ummm...Admiral? Should I pick up your lunch for you or...?"

Jansen remembered the last time he asked her to. It caused quite a mess in the mess hall (No pun intended).

"No. I think I'm going to eat my lunch downstairs again." he said as he looked up at her from his tablet.

"Oh. Okay, sir."

Jansen stood up and paused the video. He closed the comms tablet and walked out the door with Penny following shortly behind. It was some time later when they arrived at the officers' mess hall, which was mostly empty. Odd for lunch time.

"Hey, Oz! Over here!" someone called. The two turned to see a certain Rear Admiral Conrad Dell, one of Jansen's war buddies and fellow destroyer captain.

"Conrad! Long time no see!" Jansen said as Dell stood up from the cafeteria bench and they performed a high-five and bro hug.

"You too, buddy! Oooh! Looks like you have your own secretary now, eh?" Dell said, looking at Penny, who immediately saluted upon eye contact.

"A-Admiral Dell! G-Good afternoon, sir!"

"At ease, umm..." Dell took some time to look at her name patch. "... _Caaartwright..._ Cartwright!"

"She looks new," he whispered to Jansen.

"She is," Jansen whispered back.

"Hey, why don't the both of you sit here with me! Seems like everyone else is cooped up in their rooms thanks to the heat. In February no less."

"We still have to get our food, you know."

"Riiiight. Go ahead! You can leave your tablet with me. Don't worry, I won't use it." Dell said as he leaned in closer to whisper to Jansen again. "You don't happen to have a password on this thing do you?"

Jansen looked at him unimpressively. "There is."

"Juuuust askiiiing..."

Jansen and Penny each took the same order: two cups of rice with some mixed vegetables, sunny-side up egg, two sausages, and a large cup of Coca Cola. They sat down in front of Dell, who was also eating the same.

"It seems like there isn't much variation in the menu today," Jansen said as took as sip of cola. Penny was already eating her food nervously but quietly as to not interrupt the conversation.

"I heard the cook say that this is all they have. Sooo this is probs gonna be our dinner tonight too. Better than nothing anyway." Dell said as he took a spoonful of mixed veggies.

"Have you received any orders? Like assignment orders and stuff?" Dell asked.

"No...you too, huh."

"We haven't even received a lot of paperwork. Must be related to this new unit that's being created."

"New unit?"

"There's some talk about this new special unit that's being assembled. It's said that they're going to select its members from our ranks."

Jansen took another sip of cola.

"To combat those aliens, no doubt."

"You read my mind! I think its also going to utilize that new weapon they tested in Pearl Harbor..."

 _"Huh? He doesn't know?"_ Jansen thought. _"Weren't all Pacific Fleet commissioned officers ordered to attend?"_

"...I wonder what it is though. If only I arrived here sooner." Dell said as he sighed.

 _"Oh. He just got here. No wonder."_

"Hold on...weren't you transferred here before I did?" Dell said as he pointed his spoon at Jansen.

"How did the test go? Before the aliens attacked?"

Jansen couldn't just tell him about what happened back at Pearl. Not all personnel of the armed forces were allowed to know about what happened according to their debriefing.

"Well...it didn't push through. A UFO attacked the site before we could perform the test." he said to Dell, hoping he'd believe him.

Dell looked at him skeptically. "*sigh* Well that's a shame. Even Commodore Darcy said so too." Dell said before taking a huge bite of his sausage. Suddenly, Jansen's tablet started ringing, surprising them all.

"Oh! Ummm...sir? Should I answer that for you?" Penny asked. Jansen looked at the screen and saw it was Henderson.

"Nah. I'll answer it." Jansen said as he stood up.

"Mhhm's calling?" Dell asked him with a full mouth.

"Vice Admiral Henderson."

Dell's eyes widened.

"What?!"

"He's probably checking on me for my dad."

"So he really IS friends with your dad! Okay, man. Go ahead." Dell said as he continued eating. Penny was about to stand up and accompany Jansen when he stopped her.

"It's alright, Penny. Go finish your food."

"But si-"

"It's O-KAAAY. I can see that you're hungry, so just stay with Admiral Dell."

"Oh...ummm...thank you, sir."

Jansen gave her the thumbs up as he walked outside to answer the call. He unlocked the tablet and pressed [ANSWER CALL]. Henderson's live image appeared on the screen like a Skype call, except this time, it was military. He was still in his hospital room, on a hospital bed. A nurse was arranging the bedside table beside him.

"Admiral! How's the leg?" Jansen asked.

 _"To be honest, I should probably be the one checking on him."_ he thought.

"Getting better, son. I called to tell you some good news!"

Jansen was puzzled.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You see, a few days ago us higher-ups were setting up the creation of the Unconventional Warfare Unit or the U.W.U. in short. This is the unit that will deal with handling and deploying the ship girls..."

 _"WHAT?! So Dell was right!"_ Jansen thought in surprise.

"...So we started canvassing potential personnel for the unit among the commissioned officers in the entire navy..."

"That's...great! Looks like we can finally take the fight to the aliens then, huh?"

"...I'm not done yet. I recommended you for the position of unit commander..."

As Henderson said that, Jansen's eyes widened in surprise and shock.

 _"Wait...WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"_

"...and they picked you! Congratulations, boy!"

Jansen slowly looked up from the tablet to look through the mess hall window. Dell was apparently talking to Penny, who seemed to have mustered the courage to speak to him.

"Oscar? OSCAR?! You alright? I know, I know. 'Shocking' isn't it? But I believe you can do it. You're the only one who's interacted with a ship girl AND actually commanded her successfully. You are going to be a natural. I already told your father..."

 _"Oh, God..."_


	8. Foundations (Part 1)

**February 19, 2042, San Diego Naval Base [1600 hours]  
**

"...ol' Russ told me about it! Guess I should start keepin' my mouth shut from now on!"

Around 4PM the following day, Jansen's father, Robert, called him via cellphone video call. Mostly to congratulate his son about his new assignment and to ask how he was doing. Robert was a somewhat well-known officer of the US Navy, having participated in the Third World War. One of his known actions was commandeering a destroyer to rescue the drowning passengers of a civilian evacuation ship, aside from his being responsible for the successful shore bombardment of Hainan for the main invasion force of the UN Coalition.

Jansen was still reeling in from the shock of his sudden appointment yesterday. The news wasn't announced to everyone yet, but it would be once the program goes full swing in the next few days.

"The whole gist of the 'Shipgirl Program' confuses me though. It sounds like something straight out a science-fantasy novel or something," his father said.

"Same here, Dad. Using a malfunctioning laser cannon to bring out a ship's spirit to fight for us sounds ridiculous until you see it in person, but even then it's still hard to believe."

Jansen took a deep breath before he took a sip of water as his father continued speaking.

"I've been told that you've met one of those 'ship girls'..."

"...and commanded her," Jansen offhandedly muttered.

"Russ told me about that too. You saved Pearl with her help! It's very obvious why he picked you for the job," Robert said with a proud grin.

Jansen rolled his eyes, "I'm still quite concerned about how this program's going to work out, though. Considering the fact that they're gonna go around and use that laser on the ships after they announce it."

"You should be. They're putting you in charge of a bevy of girls armed to the teeth with naval weaponry! Although if you look at it from another perspective, it's much easier than commanding a squadron of actual warships."

"You have a point there, Dad," Jansen replied as he thought about it.

"Well, son. I gotta go. Your mom wants me to pick her up from your cousin's baby shower in a few, and you know what happens if I DON'T come on time."

"What?! Chase is pregnant?!"

"Oh right. I didn't tell you...ah at least you know. Anyway, good luck with the program, kiddo!" Robert said as he hung up.

* * *

 **The next day...  
**

Upon waking up and going through the normal routines, Jansen received a message on his Comms tablet not unlike the message he received a few days ago. However, instead of being sent by Naval Command, it was actually from Koenigg.

 _"Well whaddya know? A message from Koenigg! Must be about Missouri..."_ Jansen thought as he pressed the message notification.

* * *

TO: RDML. Oscar E. Jansen, Pacific Fleet

FROM: Prof. Hermann W. Koenigg, UN Special Weapons Program

Admiral Jansen,

Our evaluation of Missouri is complete. I've attached the data to this message. Please read it if you have the time, as it will give you some insight about her and the future shipgirls' capabilities. Do not worry, we have not done any harm to either her or the other one...Arizona, I think. I hope that eases your mind. The both of them will be arriving at 0900 on the same day you receive this message, but Arizona will be kept under observation by Dr. Kaeriga until she awakens. I have heard of your appointment as the future commander of the shipgirl unit. Congratulations! I believe you have the ability to lead them.

Until then, the Navy has some orders for you until the conversion process of the selected warships proceeds. If I am not mistaken, it involves interacting with Missouri so the both of you will be more familiar with each other. Perhaps you will received the orders later.

Until we meet again, Admiral,

Koenigg.

* * *

 _"Oh so they're coming back_ _today,"_ he thought as he walked out the door of his room in the Officers' Quarters. He received the message Koenigg was talking about not long after. _  
_

* * *

TO: RDML. Oscar E. Jansen, Pacific Fleet

FROM: Pacific Fleet Command

Report to North Island IMMEDIATELY. More orders regarding your new assignment will be given thereafter.

* * *

 _"Wow. They're fast,"_ Jansen thought as he rushed out the building to find a LSSV waiting for him out front.

"Admiral, sir!" the driver, who was standing in front of the truck said as he saluted. Jansen quickly returned the salute.

"Well, let's go."

* * *

"Be careful with Arizona. We don't want her falling off the stretcher," Kaeriga said to the personnel wheeling Arizona off the C-130. They were bringing the unconscious shipgirl to an ambulance for transportaion to the naval base's hospital. Meanwhile, Missouri walked down the rear ramp of the plane and onto the tarmac of the North Island Air Station.

"Ahhhh...it's so nice to be back!" she said as she stretched. While doing so, she spotted a green LSSV on the runway heading for the aircraft.

"Um, excuse me, Doctor K. I think someone's here," Missouri said to Kaeriga, who was coordinating Arizona's loading into the ambulance. She turned to Missouri's direction.

"Hmm? Oh, I think that's Admiral Jansen," she said.

The car pulled up near the back of the C-130 and a few meters away from the ambulance with Navy markings. They saw Jansen step out after saying a few words to the driver.

"Sir!" Missouri exclaimed cheerfully as she saluted with a bright smile on her face. Jansen returned the salute.

"Welcome back to San Diego, guys. How was your stay with Koenigg's?"

"Oh, it was okay, I guess. They had me do lots evaluation tests, but of course, that's what I was there for, right?" Missouri answered.

"Admiral. Did you receive the files from Dr. Koenigg?" Kaeriga asked him.

"Just this morning."

"I recommend that you go through them if you have a LOT of spare time. All the data we compiled from her tests could equal a small library," Kaeriga said as she adjusted her glasses.

Unbeknownst to the three, a higher ranking officer present approached them.

"Admiral Jansen," he said in stern tone. The three turned to look at him.

"Oh! Vice Admiral Baxter!" Missouri said as she immediately saluted, with Jansen following suit.

"Sir!"

Baxter returned the salute. "Pacific Command told me to wait for you here. I'm supposed to relay your orders for the next few days."

"I was expecting you'd say that, sir. Are they related to my new position?"

"They are. Since the Shipgirl Program is about to begin starting tomorrow onwards, we're going to start the construction of facilities for the incoming ship girls. In the meantime, Missouri will be under your command," Baxter said as he pulled out a cigarette.

"So...what is she supposed to do until then?" Jansen asked.

"To be honest, we don't really know what to do with her. I suggest you 'interact' with her. Know her more. Besides, you two're gonna be working together from now on to fight the UAO threat anyway," Baxter said as he lit the cigarette and smoked it.

 _"Koenigg's guess was right..."_ Jansen thought as he and Missouri looked at each other.

"So, sir. We're just going to hang out until I have to go and fight those aliens again?"

"If you put it that way...then yeah. That's precisely what you're going to do," Baxter said after puffing a large cloud of smoke.

"What about Arizona?" Missouri asked.

"Same with you. When she wakes up, she's under Jansen's command."

"Oh. Okay. I don't see any problems with that."

Baxter puffed another cloud, "Missouri's to be accommodated in the same officers' housing building as you. Arizona as well. But only until we build the shipgirls' barracks here."

"Acknowledged, sir."

"Expect the first batch of shipgirls tomorrow. They're going to convert some of the ships that are docked here first."

"What about their accommodations?" Jansen asked Baxter, who was about to turn and leave.

"We've cleared a floor in your building for that purpose, Jansen. Don't worry about it," Baxter responded.

"Anyway, you're dismissed. Good luck."

With that Baxter, threw the half-burned cigarette down and stepped on it to put it out. He then walked off.

"Soooooo..." Jansen said sheepishly as he turned to Missouri. "...what, umm...what do you want to do now? We've got a lot of time to kill, so...yeah."

"Ehehe...I don't really know either. But I definitely don't want to sit around for 40 years again."

Despite the rustle and bustle of the base around them, they experienced dead air for almost three minutes until they heard a small rumble.

"Oh, right. I haven't eaten any breakfast yet..." Jansen said as he put a hand on his belly.

"To the MESS HALL!" Missouri cheered. However, Kaeriga interrupted.

"Hold on, Missouri. I need to speak to Admiral Jansen for a while."

"Ah? Awww...alright Doc. I'm actually hungry myself..." Missouri said as Kaeriga walked towards Jansen.

"So what is it, Doctor?"

"I'll notify you on Arizona's condition. When she wakes up, I think you should head on over to the hospital. We might need some help explaining everything to her when the time comes."

"Of course."

"Oh! Um, excuse me, sir. But when she wakes up, can I come along? I might be able to help you guys out, since I'm her friend and all," Missouri interjected.

"That reminds me...how are you...'friends' with Arizona?" Jansen asked. He remembered her saying that they "used to talk". _But how?_

"You said that you two used to...'talk'...how?"

"Well of course we talked! She was just right in front of me back then. We used to talk about the war. How she was pissed about the 'damn Japs!' and their attack on the harbor back in '41..."

"Okay, but I was asking _HOW._ I mean...how is that possible?" Jansen said as he looked to Kaeriga.

"Errrr...I...don't _reaaally_ know how. But we just did," Missouri said as she put her hands together and twiddled her fingers. "She's a really nice person though! I'll introduce you to her once she gets up. Awww! It's gonna be like old times! Except this time me and Ari can actually hang out and go around~!"

Jansen looked at Kaeriga, "I'm sorry, Admiral. I'm not really well-versed in how this spirit hoo-haa works either."

"It's fine, it's fine." Jansen assured her. "Me and Missouri're heading over to the Mess Hall. How about you?"

"Hospital. Gotta watch Arizona. Thank you, though," Kaeriga said as she adjusted her glasses and held her lab coat to keep it from flying off her. "Anyway, I'll inform you on Arizona's condition. 'Till then, Admiral."

Kaeriga boarded the ambulance with the unconscious Arizona in it. Shortly after, it left.

Jansen faced Missouri.

"Mess hall?"

"Mess hall!"


End file.
